There are no exact guidelines. There are probably no guidelines at all. The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. Continue reading
Month: August 2012
Strategic Variety – To give up the bird in the hand you must first see a flock in the bush
A. Build a portfolio of new strategic options. Without a lot of exciting new options, managers will inevitably opt for more of the same. That’s why renewal depends on a company’s ability to generate and test hundreds of new strategic options. There’s a power law here: Out of 1,000 crazy ideas, only 100 will merit serious consideration. Of those, only 10 will be worth a serious investment, and out of that modest bundle, only 1 or 2 will have the power to transform a business or spawn a new one. Google gets this. Within its core search business, the company tests more than 5,000 software changes a year, and implements around 500—this according to BusinessWeek. The fact that Google has thus far managed to maintain its overwhelming lead in online search is in large part the result of this blistering pace of innovation. In the end, the pace at which Google, or any other company, is able to adapt and evolve is a function of the number of new strategic options that it is able to generate and test. Continue reading
Willingness to Change
When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. Continue reading
The power of vulnerability
Louis Armstrong – Hello Dolly Live
Anticipation – It’s hard to out-run the future if you don’t see it coming
A. Face up to strategy decay. Like people, strategies get old and die—and in recent years, strategy life cycles have been shrinking. Great strategies get copied (“strategic convergence”); they reach their natural limits (as markets saturate and inefficiencies become harder to find); they get supplanted by better strategies (that are more effective at delivering customer value); or they get eviscerated, when well-informed customers use their knowledge to slash away at margins. Sooner or later, every strategy dies, and the signs of advancing age are always visible—if you’re looking for them. Continue reading
Intellectual Flexibility – To change an organization you must first change minds.
A. Regard every belief as a hypothesis. The biggest barriers to strategic renewal are almost always top management’s unexamined beliefs. Music can only be sold on shiny discs? Don’t bet on it. The news has to be delivered on a big piece of flimsy paper? Not necessarily. You have to load programs onto your computer before you can use them? Maybe not. In an age of unprecedented change, it’s important to regard everything you believe about your company’s business model, its competitors and its customers as mere hypotheses, forever open to disconfirmation. Continue reading
Adaptable Company
An adaptable company is one that captures more than its fair share of new opportunities. It’s always redefining its “core business” in ways that open up new avenues for growth. Continue reading
How a Zen Master Transforms His Fear
“It happened that a Zen master was invited as a guest. A few friends had gathered and they were eating and talking when suddenly there was an earthquake. The building that they were sitting in was a seven story building, and they were on the seventh story so life was in danger. Everybody tried to escape. The host, running by, looked to see what had happened to the master. He was there with not even a ripple of anxiety on his face. Continue reading
Friendship
And a youth said, “Speak to us of Friendship.”
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace. Continue reading
ONE TUSK 